See the 23 games that will launch with Xbox One on day one

The lineup of Xbox One launch game announcements began with a trickle during the May reveal event and didn’t start to really flow until Microsoft’s E3 press conference. Electronic Arts and other publishers chimed in, and soon gamers began to have a decent idea of what software to expect when Microsoft’s new console rolls around.

Still, for all those title announcements, you never really know exactly what games will launch alongside the system until the console’s release date draws near. The Xbox One’s nebulous November release date (Microsoft still hasn’t named the date yet) is still a few months away, but Microsoft has just revealed the lineup of games that will be available at retail and via download on launch day. With 23 titles to choose from, early adopters are in for a treat this holiday season.

By my count, that puts the Xbox One at five retail and five downloadable exclusives on day one, whereas the Xbox 360 launched with six retail and 8 downloadable exclusives (we’re not counting Joust and Gauntlet as exclusives). While the new system’s numbers are slightly smaller, I would argue that the Xbox One’s retail exclusives, third-party retail lineup, and downloadable lineup all look much stronger than the games the Xbox 360 launched with in 2005.

Select launch game breakdown

Some of the games on the launch list we’ve covered before, others we haven’t. Everybody knows what to expect from the first-person shooters, Assassin’s Creed, and sports games. Let’s take a brief peak at the remaining titles:

Crimson Dragon

At long last, the big brother of Windows Phone exclusive Crimson Dragon: Side Story will appear on Xbox One. Crimson Dragon was originally announced for XBLA, but Microsoft mysteriously pulled it only weeks before release in order to retool it for Xbox One.

This spiritual successor to Panzer Dragoon has benefitted from the extra year of development time with improved graphics, a greater scope, and the addition of physical controller support in addition to Kinect controls!

Dead Rising 3

The Dead Rising series is known for its mixture of zombie horror, oddball comedy, and massive hordes of enemies on-screen at once. Part three suffers from an unfortunate brown color scheme, but otherwise everything players love from previous games has been improved upon.

The world is completely open now and filled with drivable vehicles, which should make for gory road kills galore. Two-player online co-op and extremely robust SmartGlass support further round out this impressive exclusive. Check out our E3 preview for more details.

Fighter Within

One of the two exclusive Kinect retail titles, Fighters Within allows two players to battle each other via highly accurate Kinect controls. Throw a punch or kick and your character does so instantly, without the lag that Xbox 360 Kinect games experienced.

This is the kind of game that could either be surprisingly solid or completely underwhelming. We’ll have to see how it shapes up in the months to come.

Forza 5

The Forza series is known for its hyper realistic simulation aspects. Hundreds of cars are recreated down to the tiniest detail, and each one drives like the real thing. Forza 5 will of course be the most beautiful racing game to date, with more track detail and livelier spectators than ever before.

Online players will benefit from the cloud processing-fueled drivatar support (AI racers based on your actual driving style), while offline players can still play the game after downloading the day one patch. Madcatz also gas a wireless racing wheel in store that should create an even more immersive simulation.

Killer Instinct

A cult 2D fighting series from the Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64 days, Killer Instinct is back at last. Not only does it look and play quite faithfully to its predecessors, the new Killer Instinct also boasts an unusual payment model for a fighting game.

One character is completely free and can be used in offline and online play. The other seven characters cost $5 each, or players can grab the whole roster for $20. Hardcore Killer Instinct fans may opt for the $40 deluxe edition. It includes all the characters and a slew of bonus content, including the original KI arcade game!

LEGO Marvel Super Heroes

Last year’s LEGO Batman 2 provided a vast playground and assortment of characters to entertain kids and comic fans alike. LEGO Marvel Superheroes should easily recapture that magic, thanks in large part to a playable roster of 100 Marvel Comics heroes and villains.

Warner Bros. quietly announced this game would come to Xbox One in addition to current generation systems back at E3, but that detail was largely lost in the sea of news from the show. We don’t know what enhancements (if any) the Xbox One version will feature, but enhanced graphics and special effects are a given. Give our E3 preview a look to learn more about the game itself.

Lococyle

This quirky combat racer comes from Twisted Pixel, the folks behind Ms. Splosion Man and the original Gunstringer.

It was announced as an XBLA game at E3 2012, but like Crimson Dragon got held back in favor of an Xbox One upgrade.

Peggle 2

Poor Windows Phone never got a port of the original Peggle, but the XBLA version was tops. Peggle 2 will launch as an Xbox One exclusive, which almost makes up for Plants vs. Zombies 2 being iOS-exclusive.

Expect a more pleasing art style complete with animated characters, increased background detail, and tons of peg-busting fun from this one.

Powerstar Golf

Did you like Let’s Golf 2 on Windows Phone? This cartoonish golfing game should evoke much of the same fun. Each character has a unique ability that he or she can use a limited number of times during a game.

Golf games are hard to screw up, but I hear this one currently suffers from severe UI issues. Hopefully those clear up before launch.

Ryse

This epic action game takes place during the times of the Roman Empire.

It will include an online Gladiator mode on top of the single player game. You’ll use the money earned in multiplayer to purchase booster packs of cards that unlock random rewards. Sam and Michael are pumped for this one – how about you guys?

Skylanders: Swap Force

Activision recently announced that the newest Skylanders game will arrive on Xbox One in addition to current gen systems! Swap Force will work with all the Skylanders toys you already own; it’s awesome to see characters we bought for the Xbox 360 game transfer over to next gen as well. The Xbox One version will look much nicer than the 360 games, which should help keep parents’ attention a little better as they play co-op with their children.

Zoo Tycoon

Not long ago I said that Animal Park Tycoon would have to hold Windows Phone owners over since Microsoft wasn’t taking advantage of their Zoo Tycoon license. It turns out that Xbox One is getting the first-ever Zoo Tycoon game for consoles!

This one comes from Frontier Software, the developers behind Kinectimals and Kinect Disneyland Adventures. Expect lots of animal-themed Kinect minigames, highly realistic animals, four-player co-op, and of course: zoo management. We’ll also be able to visit each other’s’ zoos via the cloud.

That's it, guys! Barring last minute delays, these are the games you'll have to choose from on Xbox One launch day. Which ones are you excited for?

I'm rather surprised that they are still making money.
Their business practices as publisher convinced me that they hate money and don't want their customers to feel joy.
Vanquish sold badly and Universe at War was just tragic, for two examples.

Anyway, now that Sony decided that we don't need net neutrality (as can be seen by the fact that they are making broadband deals with deutsche Telekom), I'll get an Xbox One.
Weird how no one is blowing this aspect out of proportion after all the Xbox One whining.

Well from what info I can find Sega pulled back to only 4 franchises last year. Well most of us know how Aliens went....so they have 3 franchises to count on now...but it seems Sonic is exclusive to Wii U....so we have 2 franchises now....oops...both Total War and Football manager are PC games.

The franchise they fucked up the worst was Alpha Protocol.....I mean they FUCKED that glorious bit of original IP.

Although im so pumped for people to get a huge update in the console world, I'm a PC gamer, and the graphics don't compare, but im really pumped for these next Gen games to further push the boundaries of modern gaming, which will then make the PC gaming world so much better :)

I used to be a PC gamer, but more games coming to consoles, and it is nice to not need to worry about whether my computer has the specs to run a game properly. It is also nice to be able to just insert a disc and play. (I know they have to install now, but it is not the same).

I understand what you mean. Bit for me, PC gaming works the best, I dropped 1500$ on a gaming rig and basically I can take any game, crank the settings up to ultra and let it go :) but yeah, for most people, consoles are more reliable and easier to work.

Personally Im really looking forward to walking into my local retailer just buying the console and walking out, going home and downloading the games i want. I remember the 360 launch where you couldnt just buy what you wanted - everything was packaged in bundles that were overpriced and to get the games you wanted you had to pick a pack with at least 2 games you had no interest in.

Good article, and there are a few Games on my must have for launch day but I'm begging a developer any developer to please make a worthy Cricket Game for Xbox One....please! especially since region locks are gone the way if the dinosaurs.

I wish I could play a Canadian Football League game of any calibre! The CFL's championship game (the Grey Cup, a trophy that people have been playing for for 100 years) draws 6 million views in Canada, surely that's a big enough market for an XBLA title at least, or an unlockable mode in Madden.

Interesting how, for the second time, we have an Xbox launching without Halo. Are they keeping their powder dry during the launch on purpose, figuring they'll sell every unit at launch anyway so why not aim for year 2 for Halo? Or are the games missing their targets?

Glad you're considering the Xbox One! It's going to be such a good family console, you would not regret the purchase.

Out of the games available on day one, these are the ones that are good for a kid in that age group:

Just Dance 2014

LEGO Marvel Super Heroes

Peggle 2

Skylanders: Swap Force

Zoo Tycoon

I'm not super interested in Just Dance myself (I prefer Harmonix's Dance Central series), but all of those games are titles I'd buy. Other than Peggle 2 (actually my most wanted game of the 5), they all support 2-player co-op so you can play along together as well. And keep in mind these are only the games coming out the first day - more titles will release by the end of the year and in the future.

Sorry, I misinterpret this statement. But anyway, there are many new apps/ games which are only available for WP8 phones. What about WP7 users? We will be very sad, frustrated and angry at the same time. Please make an effort to release these apps/ games for WP7 too. Thank you.